Svitolina survives seven match points and stages a crazy comeback

There are defeats that hurt more than others, and Tereza Valentova knows perfectly well which group she belongs to after suffering one this night. The Czech had a victory in her hands that could have changed the course of her season, but ended up living through one of the cruelest comebacks remembered in the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati. She had seven match points against Elina Svitolina and even had a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak of the second set. However, she could not close the match and ended up losing 3-6, 7-6(5), and 6-0.

The magnitude of the blow is better understood by reviewing how the match slipped away. Valentova was leading the scoreboard and seemed to have Svitolina on the ropes, but the Ukrainian refused to give up. She saved all seven match points, turned around the tiebreak, and managed to push the match to a third set where everything completely changed. Valentova, devastated after such a missed opportunity, could not react and lost the final set with a decisive bagel.

Svitolina, an indomitable fighter

The comeback is even more remarkable because Svitolina had to deal with discomfort in the same foot she was operated on in 2024. The Ukrainian even received attention during the match, but she was able to finish the battle and stage a comeback that once again demonstrates one of her main virtues: her ability to compete until the last point.

"It wasn't an easy night for me, but it ended well. I’m very happy," Svitolina acknowledged after the match. The Ukrainian especially thanked the crowd for their support, which continued to push her when she seemed on the verge of elimination. "I kept fighting and was rewarded for it," she explained.

After winning the second set, Svitolina spoke with her team, including her husband Gaël Monfils and Andrew Bettles. The message was simple: keep fighting. And it worked. She won the next six games to complete an extraordinary comeback. With this victory, Svitolina reaches 42 wins in 2026, more than any other player this season. Valentova, on the other hand, will have to try to digest such a painful defeat that is hard to forget.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Svitolina sobrevive a siete match points y firma una remontada de locura